Two Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission officers have been charged before a Milimani anti-corruption court with requesting financial advantage from a traffic officer.

Kipyegon koskei and Richard Pkemei Topila appeared before Chief Magistrate Douglas Ogoti and denied the charges.

The charges stated that between April 12 and 17, 2018 at Kikuyu township in Kiambu County, being a public officer employed by the commission as a driver Pkemei demanded Sh110,000 from George Manyala, traffic police officer.

It is alleged that he would then help him terminate bribery investigation the traffic officer was facing.

The matter was being investigated by EACC against Manyala and other officers attached to King’eero police station.

Further, the court heard that Kipyegon and Pkemei received Sh60,000 on April 17 last year from Manyala.

The two are also accused of receiving Sh50,000 from the said traffic police officer to assist him to terminate the investigation.

The two were ordered to deposit cash bail of Sh150,000 or an alternative bond of 3 million each, to secure their release.

Independence party Kanu wants the High Court to dismiss a case filed by former Senate majority leader Kipchumba Murkomen and majority whip Susan Kihika, who have challenged their ouster.

Through its secretary general Nick Salat, Kanu argued that the High Court doesn’t have jurisdiction to entertain the matter.

“The hearing and determination of the dispute falls within the jurisdiction of the senate and the organs of the senate including the office of the speaker, the senate business committee, the parliamentary party or its organs and the plenary of the senate in compliance with the standing orders,” Salat said.

The party, whose leader is Baringo Senator Gideon Moi, further said both Murkomen and Kihika must exhaust their issues before political parties tribunal.

Salat told the court that Jubilee Party and KANU entered into post-election Coalition Agreement and, a move which was properly entered into by the parties, lawfully executed and registered.

He added that the decision to remove Murkomen and Kihika was lawful and in accordance with the Constitution of Kenya, the Political Parties Act and the Standing Orders of the Senate.

“The Petitioners were removed from the positions of Majority Leader and Majority Whip by a majority of members of the majority coalition in the Senate in a properly convened parliamentary group meeting attended by the Jubilee Party Leader,” the SG said.

He added that on October 17, last year at the senate sitting Murkomen and the Deputy Speaker contended that parliament or the Senate cannot be injucted or have its proceedings stayed by the orders of the court.

However, the Elgeyo Marakwet Senator now seeks to injunct or stay the action or conduct of Parliament by obtaining orders against the respondents including the Speaker of the Senate.

“This court should not favour the Petitioners with orders when they have denigrated the Judiciary in the Senate and characterised court orders as interference with legislative authority in complete disregard to the judicial authority of the courts and the systems of separation of powers and checks and balance in a republican constitutional democracy”, Salat urged the court.

Salat said the two embattled senators are also high court advocates who are bound by judicial practices and traditions of the courts.

He is accused that on diverse dates between August 8 and November 14,2018 in Nairobi jointly with others before court obtained 62,950.000 from hopeland advertising and design limited director John Ohas Omondi by falsely pretending that you were in a position to award tender from the ministry of devolution for the supply of laptops specification to the said company valued 94,250,000 million a fact he knew to be false.

He is also facing several charges of obtaining over 2.2 million from the said director.

The duo are accused between March 5 and April 1 in Nairobi conspired together with another not before court to defraud Kelvin Kuteli Wambulwa 2.3 million by falsely pretending that their company Chatter Africa Limited had won a tender to supply borehole bearings to Mesut Logistic company.

They are also accused of obtaining 2.3 million from Kuteli by pretending their company had won a tender to supply borehole bearings to Mesut Logistic company.

They were released on a cash bail of of 200, 000 pending hearing and determination of their fraud case.

Activist has moved to court seeking to declare Kenya National Commission for UNESCO CEO Evangeline Njoka unfit to hold any public office.

In a petition, Jeremiah Memba Ocharo alleges that Dr Njoka has violated the constitution and leadership Integrity Act, hence unfit to hold public office.

“A declaration be hereby issued that UNESCO secretary general Dr Evangeline Njoka is unfit to hold any public office by dint of the violations of the constitution and Leadership and Integrity Act,” he urges the court.

Through his lawyer Danstan Omari, Ocharo also wants the petition and court orders be served to Dr Njoka electronically and the matter be heard expendidously during Covid-19 period.

The CEO has been accused of breaching recruitment procedures by breaking down a system that is likely to have ramifications on the way the public views the organization.

He further doubts its ability to attract high caliber professionals who will be motivated to seek employment.

This is because of internal hemorrhage of staff in senior management who have resigned or are fighting for their rights through the courts in the last two years, a situation he said is alarming and warrants immediate intervention.

According to the court documents, Dr Njoka has acted and continues acting in a manner that completely flouts the provisions of law on conflict of interest thus putting the commission on a downward path and in contravention of the dictates of Articles 75 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 and Section 24 of the Leadership and Integrity Act.

On September 17, 2019, he said, after uproars from the public were raised over bribery allegations and complaints against the Dr Njoka and three other officials of the Commission, she convened a board meeting which recommended the suspension of the three officers, pending investigation into possible offenses, disregarding the fact that she was also part of the allegations.

The Commission sought legal advice from the Attorney General over the matter and in response, was advised that the board is possess legal authority to take disciplinary action against its staff.

However, such action can only be based on the existence of conclusive evidence subject to reference and applicability of the Human Resource Manuals, fair administrative Action and adherence to the Rules of Natural justice, the AG advised.

Dr Njoka is said to have kept intimidating the officers, members of the board engaged in witch-hunt and misappropriation of funds all constituting gross misconduct that warrants removal from office.

Ocharo says that the increased number of court cases that have all been deliberated upon by the board are indicative of an incompetent CEO who is incapable or resolving simple labour related issues but geared at supporting the unlawful decisions of the CEO.

Ocharo through lawyer Omari says that Dr. Njoka was appointed to the position for a term of five years which was renewed for another five years in 2018 without disclosing to the Board that she was due for mandatory retirement upon attainment of 60 years from June 3, 2020.

According to Ocharo, the recruitment for a position of a CEO ought to be competitive which in her case, was only but an appointment from the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Education at that time.

“It is during her reign as the CEO that the Commission now stands accused of arbitrarily engaging in a myriad of unlawful actions. It is also noteworthy that during her second reign that is now dogged in controversy, the shift in carrying out the Commission’s mandate has drastically changed and veered towards succession politics”, he adds.

In the court documents, Ocharo says unfortunately, the CEO is aggravating the situation by adamantly working to have the officers dismissed and not reinstated as she may try to show from time to time.

He argue that contrary to the organizational mission which refers to implementing the mandate for purposes of “promoting peace for sustainable development”, Dr. Njoka has declared war on her staff. This atmosphere is likely to interfere with the issuance of quality services to a now curious public who are concerned about the state of affairs at the Commission.

He also says that the breach of recruitment procedures are also indicative of a broken system that is likely to have ramifications on the way the public views the organization and the ability to attract high calibre professionals who will be motivated to seek employment and the level of internal hemorrhage, within the last two years, of staff in senior management who has resigned or are fighting for their rights through the courts is alarming and warrants immediate intervention.

He states that the genesis of this downhill trend was the review of human resource instruments, which were undertaken between May and August 2019, in line with a government directive.

“Sadly, Dr. Njoka took advantage of the directive to institute a series of confounding measures which included overseeing the abolishing of critical positions contrary to the Public Service Commission (PSC) Guidelines of 2015 on establishment and abolition of offices and during the review process, some staff expressed their reservations about the structure and abolition of the offices, something that was not taken well by the CEO”, says Ocharo.

Obondo is accused of being in possession of ammunition (39 rounds of a 9milimeter) without a certificate.

He is also charged with giving false information to the police on May 10, 2020.

Odondo is alleged to have reported that one Police Constable Alan Okoth Onyango had jointly with others stolen from him 2.7 million and a wrist watch valued at 3 million, information he knew to be false with an intention of causing the arrest of the said officer.

He was arrested at Pearl residence in Kileleshwa, Nairobi where he was found in possession of a Forjus Taurus on May 14, 2020.

He was released on cash bail pending hearing and determination of his criminal case.

Two residents of Mandera have moved to court seeking to stop the county government from spending over Sh700 million in supplementary budget.

Mohamed Okashi Mohamed and Hassan Ahmed Nur are seeking orders to suspend the implementation of the county’s second and third supplementary budgets for the financial year 2019-2020.

The budget was has been proposed by the county executive committee member for finance and passed by Mandera County Assembly.

“This court do issue an injunction prohibiting and suspending the implementation of Mandera county second and third supplementary budgets for the financial year 2019-2020 by the respondents themselves or agents pending hearing and determination,” the two urged the court.

Mohamed and Nur are also seeking conservatory orders prohibiting the controller of budget from approving the withdrawal of the funds.

Justice Weldon Korir directed the two to serve the governor, Mandera County Government, the county assembly and finance executive committee member electronically and matter to be mentioned on May 15 for further directions.

According to the court documents, the two claim that Mandera County government and it senior officials have committed numerous and various acts in the course of their duties that are contrary to and violation of the constitution.

They also claim that Mandera county assembly has become an extension of the county executive and has time and again been used as rubberstamp decisions by Governor Ali Roba’s administration.

They said the MCAs have absolutely shirked off and abdicated its oversight role and sold for cheap handouts from the county government at a great prejudice to the public who have long lost confidence in both of them.

On February 27 and April 29 this year, executive committee finance member prepared and developed the Mandera county second supplementary budgets for 2019-2020 financial year for Sh423 million.

The CEC also proposed a third supplementary budget of Sh296 million. Both were prepared without subjecting it to public participation but were submitted to the county assembly who hurriedly, clandestinely and in a manner that reeks of impunity and passed the budget without giving it proper consideration.

They argued that the two supplementary budgets do not in any way shape or form prioritize county government expenditure which ensures allocation of scarce resources to those programs which have greatest impacts to the residents of Mandera County.

They said the county should have prioritised improving growth, providing and maintaining employment opportunities, reducing poverty and achieving equitable distribution of resources.

“The grounds given in support of the various estimates were not made and developed without the involvement and consultation of the various technical departments hence the lack of documentation in support and proof thereof,” the two claimed.

They added that the budgets do not facilitate any form of efficiency and co-ordination in so far as its failure to give defined outcomes, priority objectives, expected outputs and performance indicators for the defined programs as provided in the Mandera county integrated development plan of 2018-2020.

The two residents claim that the approved supplementary budgets are avenues of misappropriation, stealing, corruption and conduit to siphon public funds for personal gain since its not based on basic principles that necessitate supplementary budgets for a public entity under section 135 of public management Act ,2015 (PFMA) but it is meant to cover up corruption in waiting.

Section 129 of the PFMA stipulates that ” The county executive committee member for finance shall submit to the county executive and county assembly the budget estimates and other supporting documents for approval” and there have been no supporting documents for both budget estimates contrary to this provision.

They argue that the second Supplementary budget Notes for the financial Year 2019-2020 dated February 27, 2020 purports that an amount of 350 Million was established to be payable as pending bills for the year 2019. The said audit reportwas neither made public nor provided for scrutiny and authentication at the point of passing and or approval of the subject budget in contravention of section 129 of the PFMA which stipulates and contemplates the provision of documentation in support of budget estimates.

In the Auditor General report, it was noted that on the County executive of Mandera for the year ended June 30, 2018. that the account payable ledgers with crucial information such as suppliers names, purchaser order number, date of invoicing and amount paid and those outstanding for respective pending bills were not maintainedwith the conclusion that “the legality, authenticity and validity of the pending bills could not be ascertained.” and questioned how could the county assembly approve an allocation for payment of bills alleged to be pending without

The two claim that the approval contravenes Article 10(1) and 2(c)(d) on the national values and principles of governance and the purported approval violates the provisions of Artide 201 of the Constitution on principles of public finance which inter alia require, openness and accountability in financial matters and the prudent and responsible use of public money which requirements the county assembly Completely ignored.

They argue that the 275,000,000 million pending bills in the second supplernentary budget is fictitious and fabricated to suit individual interest and steal from the public and the proposed pending bills without attachment of particulars or the requisite supporting documents showing approved list by the National Treasury and the County Executive Committee from the 10 Ministry is an avenue for misappropriation of public money.

They further argue that to fund the second supplementary budget, the attorney generalproposed a reallocation of155 Million from the Ward Allocations and there is nothing in the initial budget tagged or named as Ward allocations and the same cannot just be reduced without knowing which allocation in which specific ward is being reduced to cater for the current budget.

“The Respondents’ proposal to “reduce the Ward Allocations by 155 Millions” is testimony that the Respondents have been allocating this illegal allocation to Members of County Assembly without reference to any Ward Development Fund Act, since the latter is yet to be enacted.

They said the action expos-es- certain wards to a disadvantage over others as well as discrimination since it is not possible to know what allocation is being taken out from a given ward.

They also states that both supplementary budget for the FY 2019-2020 have been characterized by opacity and lack of transparency and have been prepared, considered and approved by the executive finance,county assembly, the governor and the county government clandestinely without any form of public involvement and participation, amount to imprudent use of county resources owing to unverified and unbacked budget expenditure and estimates with no supporting documentsare discriminatory and skewed against certain sub-counties and do not comply with the requisite format contemplated under the law.

Kenya Association of Health Administrators have moved to court seeking to suspend the payment of allowance to frontline health workers amid Covid-19 pandemic.

Salaries and Remuneration Commission had on April 28 directed the Ministry of Health to pay Covid-19 medical allowance and benefits to health workers at the county and national level.

“This court do issue conservatory orders temporarily restraining the Ministry of Health from implementing SRC’s directive communicated vide a letter dated April 28, or making the payment of the Covid-19 medical emergency allowance and benefits for frontline health workers in national and county government,” court documents stated.

Through lawyer Danstan Omari , the administrators accuse SRC of omitting them from Covid-19 medical allowance without offering any explanation despite being on duty in hospitals.

The administrators said they are essential services providers and among the critical cadres in health care.

The association says that on the April 28, SRC wrote to the Cabinet Secretary in charge of National Treasury directing him to pay the Covid-19 medical emergency allowance and benefits for frontline health workers.

Amongst the 17 cadres forming part of the associations affiliated to the interested party, the SRC considered 16 cadres for the provision and award of the Covid-19 medical emergency allowance and deliberately omitted the administrators without offering any explanation.

“We were unjustifiably, unreasonably and callously omitted from the list of beneficiaries of the Covid-19 medical emergency allowance as proposed by the 1st Respondent yet it’s members are in charge of supervising the other beneficiaries and responsible for the smooth running of hospital operations,” they claim in the court documents.

Omari said SRC has perpetually discriminated members of the Applicants by unreasonably and arbitrarily denying them their entitlements by way of the extraneous allowances and the risk allowances while making provision for other health workers.

He further said the administrators has perpetually suffered discrimination and unequal treatment from their peers and colleagues, which injustice has been perpetuated all through and that they have been historically ignored in the provision of proper health care to Kenyans.

The association secretary general Emily Orina added that the association members are central to the smooth running of any hospital in Kenya as they are responsible for and do oversee all support services, such as maintenance of all the hospital equipment’s or machines such as ambulances.

They are in charge of supplies, all support staffs including drivers, cleaners and mortuary attendants.

“Our members are also supervisors in charge of the hospital accountants who are often seconded from the treasury and also in charge of record keeping and play a key role in the organogram of any hospital as demonstrated by the attachment marked EO3”, she added.

Marble Arch owner Mike Maina has lost his bid to attach Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko’s property and to cite him for contempt in a defamation case.

The businessman had accused Sonko of calling him ‘mkora’ and a land grabber but the High Court dismissed the contempt case saying he had failed to demonstrate a connection between him and the hotel and who was being referred by Sonko.

Judge Jacqueline Kamau dismissed the application saying, “For the forgoing reasons, the upshot of this court’s decision was that the plaintiffs’ (Mike Maina and Muthithi Investments Limited) notice of motion application dated and filed on May 6,2019 was not merited and the same is hereby dismissed.”

The judge ruled that by failing to give a nexus between mkora and Marble Arc, the businessman wanted her to enter the arena and fill the gaps yet the court is an independent arbiter.

“In view of the aforesaid lacuna that failed to show the nexus between the plaintiffs and the said Marble Arch or the “mkora” who was alluded to, the court was not persuaded that it should cite the Governor for contempt of court or sequester his property as been sought,” added the judge.

The judge further the court should not be so overzealous to punish parties merely because their opponents have alleged that they have breached court orders but must be satisfied that such contempt exists.

And in the absence of such proof, the court should decline to grant such drastic orders because they have the potential of restraining a person’s freedom.

The Judge noted that it could not ascertain to who the word “mkora mwengine” referred to or who the person who constructed Marble Arch on a grabbed land.

This was because there was nothing to show the connection between the businessman and Marble Arc.

“The connection may have been obvious to the plaintiffs and those who knew them. However, this was not obvious to the court which was expected to be a neutral arbiter and make determination based on facts that had been placed before it,” the judge said.

The businessman had filed application seeking to cite Governor Sonko for contempt or his property to be attached pending hearing and determination of the defamation case.

He had argued that the Governor had been restrained from making defamatory words or publications in reference to him and his company Muthithi Investments limited.

Governor Sonko opposed Maina’s application terming it as frivolous, an abuse of court process and without merit.

He told the court that Maina did not produce any evidence to support his allegations against him.

A man being held by police over the death of a director of Keroche Breweries Tecra Muigai has moved to court seeking his release.

Under certificate of urgency, Omar Lali Omari urges the court to review an order issued on May 14 and release him from police custody either unconditionally or on reasonable conditions.

“This court do review its orders of May 4, and reduce the period of continued detention to seven days from the date of the said orders,” urges Lali.

He says that the said orders were based on false allegations and material non-disclosure which is a sufficient ground to review or set aside the order.

“It failed to give compelling reasons that the suspect shall not appear for trial, instead it gave false reasons to court,” he said.

Police told the court that suspect’s last known address is a crime scene yet the crime scene is a guest house.

He said the place is known as Jaha Guest house. It was alleged that he has no fixed abode yet he has his residence at Shella Lamu town where has always lived.

Through his lawyer Yusuf Aboubakar, he added that police failed to specify the general nature of the evidence on which the suspect has been arrested and failure to demonstrate whether he may interfere with any evidence during investigations.

He added that his conscious is crystal clear that, if charged with murder, he shall demonstrate to the court that he was not involved in anyway with the death of Tecra. He also said he was saddened by her death.

He said Omar is Muslim observing fasting of Ramadan yet the conditions at the police station are not conducive for him to effectively observe the fast.

“It is clear that the world is facing Covid-19 pandemic and even the judiciary has initiated a policy of releasing suspects on bond pending a successful fight against the pandemic and resumption of normal court activities,” he added.